Claws and Steel
by PimpedOutToast
Summary: SIDE STORY FOR PROJECT:EVE! READ IF YOU'RE READING THAT STORY! Alphonse and Maria are sent with a BoS Squad to investigate Enclave activity to the north-east. Can Alphonse accept his true past long enough to save his Pack from destruction?


**Claws and Steel**

by

PimpedOutToast

_This takes place between and during chapters 7 and 8 of Project:Eve. The main point of this "Side Story" is to help develop the characters of Maria and Alphonse, who haven't gotten much time in the main story._

**CHAPTER 1**

Alphonse was sick of frutiless efforts. He'd tried everything from pulse grenades to plasma rifles with no success. He used his claws and swung at a practice dummy, lacerating it. Gunny observed this and nodded. "I think I have one more weapon." He retrived an old Chinese Officer's Sword and demonstrated proper technique. He then handed the sword to Alphonse. "Now you try." Alphonse nodded and repeated Gunny's actions. The dummy was full of cuts that were expertly placed. "I think we found your specialty boy." He took the sword and opened a crate, retrieving another blade, this one a bit more complex. "This is known as a Sheishkabob. Hold the lever to ignite the blade." He handed the weapon to Alphonse, who put on the backpack. "Oh," Gunny handed him an oven mitt. "You might want to put this on.." Alphonse shrugged and did as told. He ignited the sword and attacked the dummy vigorously. The dummy was soon scorched and covered in niches from his vicious attack.

_**ONE DAY LATER**_

Richard sighed as he finished the simple yet durable device. It was a large, red button. Even a Deathclaw could operate it it was so simple. It would send a signal to his PIPBOY if the button was pressed. He gathered some tools and his usual loadout and hiked over to Old Olney. He had though about picking up Alphonse, but wasn't sure how he'd react to Richard after yesterday's... revelations.

...

Deep within the nests, he finished mounting the button on the wall. He brushed off his hands and sighed. "Not difficult. Just backhand it to activate it. I have some.. thinking to do." Richard departed as swiftly as he had arrived.

Alphonse was sitting bent over on an empty box meant for Aqua Pura. His tail was limp and his eyes were focused on the floor. He was soon approached by Maria. "What do _you _want?" He growled. "You look... I don't know." He stood up and looked down at her. "Angry. Hurt. Betrayed. Confused. Worried. Scared. To name a few emotions." "That's funny! All you know how to do is be jea-ack!" Alphonse promptly shut her up by starting to strangle her with both hands. Panic appeared on her face. "Shut up. You didn't just find out that you were created in an entirely different way than you thought. You didn't find out you've been lied to all your life (even though I've only been alive a short time.) You have no respect for others and I'm sick of it! Just...be quiet!" She choked out a gasp for air. Sarah Lyons noticed the quarrel and quickly broke it up. "Alright, Richard asked us to look after you, and I doubt he'll be pleased if you kill each other off." Alphonse threw Maria to the floor and she gasped for air. "Tell you what: why don't you both go out with the next patrol. Killing super mutants can be great stress relief!" The Maria managed to compose herself enough to say in similar tandem with Alponse: "Work together with him/her?" "Oh it won't be that bad. Come on. We need to gear you up." The three proceeded to the armory. "Now, due to your... conditions... you can't be outfitted with power armor, so you'll have to go with what you have, which is your natural durability." She retrieved a Sheishkabob, this one looked to be in perfect shape. "This Sheishkabob runs off a slower burning fuel, so it burns longer with the same amount of gas." She turned to Maria. "As for you... Well, Gunny had a little something _special _ set up for you. You see the Heavy Gunner of this squad, Knight Hawkins, was killed on their last patrol." Sarah reached into a large metal crate and revealed a Minigun. "Our Scribes found some old parts in the storage rooms. Turns out they were enhanced motors for the Minigun. Unfortunately, they were so damaged we had to mix and match just to get this one working. Anyway, the barrels spin at a faster rate, increasing the rate of fire and damage potential." Maria hefted the weapon and spooled up the barrels a few times to test the speed. "Alright, Gunny's already breifing the squad, so you'd better hurry."

END CHAPTER I

Now, before you start whining about how "There's no slow burn Sheishkabob in Fallout 3!" and "The minigun mods aren't in Fallout 3!" Shut up and deal. The Sheishkabob uses the same fuel as the Slo-Burn Flamer (don't see why that wouldn't be a good idea.) and the parts were salvaged for the minigun from deep inside the Pentagon. (AKA the Citadel) meaning they were from the goevernment and most likely not commonplace in DC when it got PWNED by the nukes. And don't worry. Once I get this and another "side story" completed, I'll wrap up Project: EVE. After that? I'll get "back in the saddle" with a new story.


End file.
